Moving From Bored to Engaged

This week we tried some "new math" in our second grade classroom.  After getting started with the Front Row math website and app last week we were ready to start digging in and working independently.  I love this website!  It's an app and a website.  How wonderful in our one-iPad classroom.  In past lessons I would see the look of boredom on the faces of many of my students.  Some would even lay their heads down on the desks and almost fall asleep.  (It doesn't help that our Math block is after lunch.)  I promised them that after we got through the lesson they would "get" to do the Enrichment page.  My sweet students looked forward to this little challenge!

Today, however we moved from bored to engaged.  Instead of having everyone do the lesson together, I gave some of the students a Quick Check page.  They was a sample of the lesson we were about to learn.  If they already knew how to do the math, why did I need to teach it to them, right?!  After they showed me on the Quick Check that this lesson was old news for them, I set them loose in our technology station working on Front Row.  With this app/website they are learning at exactly the place where they need to be.  They are challenged and are learning new concepts instead of reviewing ones they already know.  The look on their faces was priceless!  As they worked, their eyes got wide, sometimes they looked to the ceiling as they thought about what to do and I may have heard a few sighs.  These are wonderful signs to this teacher that learning is taking place!  When it was time to wrap up Math for the day, my students on the computers were definitely sad.  Isn't it a great day when they are sad to end Math?  The best part is that it doesn't have to end.  They can go home and enjoy Math some more using Front Row.  Even more learning....one app at a time.